The Mentalist: Breathe
by Alasse Fefalas
Summary: Post season 5. Following a lead, Lisbon and Jane check out an abandoned house at night when Jane is suddenly attacked, leaving him unconscious. JISBON. [One-shot]


**Breathe**

By Alasse Fefalas

Lisbon flipped the light switch on the wall, her gun in her hand. Darkness still shrouded the room she was in, making her more wary of her surroundings.

The team's search for a clue in a recent gruesome murder case had led Jane and her to an abandoned house in the woods off the main road. She had hopped out of the car to investigate, ordering Jane to stay in the car for the time being but Jane, being Jane, simply ignored her and got out of the black SUV. Sighing exasperatedly, Lisbon had unholstered her gun in case of an emergency and went to have a better look of the house.

"Jane, you stay behind me, alright?" Lisbon said softly. Hearing no reply from the man, she turned around to see an empty space where he was previously standing. "Dammit, Jane..."

Taking out her flashlight, she flicked it on to have a look around the exterior of the house, hoping to find her consultant somewhere around the house. Looking up briefly at the dark cloudy sky, she cursed the lack of moonlight of the early fall nights. Sighing, she shook her head and continued her search for the pain in her neck.

"Jane? Jane where are you?" Lisbon called out into the darkness. Still, no answer. She resumed her search, walking slowly until a loud grunt and sounds of a struggle made her burst into a run towards the back of the house. "Hey! CBI!" Lisbon shouted, levelling her gun and flashlight towards two shadows wrestling fiercely a few metres in front of her. "Let him go!"

A tall hooded man had his arm around Jane's neck in an attempt to asphyxiate the struggling man. Jane's hands were trying to get a grip on the arm, but with not much strength in him, they just kept slipping off. At Lisbon's shout, the man snapped his head up and back down just as quick to prevent his eyes being blinded from the bright light. He brought Jane directly in front of him, using the other man as a shield from both the light and the gun.

"I said: let him go," Lisbon growled at the hooded man. He was smart. He didn't look directly at her and knew how to protect himself from gunfire. She was getting worried about Jane whose struggles were getting weaker and weaker.

"Who are you and what do you want?" The hooded man asked in a deep voice. "What are you here for?"

"I'm Agent Lisbon from the CBI and I want you to let my consultant go," Lisbon said as calmly as possible. Inside, she was panicking. Jane's eyes held horror, fear and pain, and they were slowly closing - a sign he was running out of oxygen fast. "We're investigating the murder of Abagail Swann. She was killed just 10 miles off here."

"I knew Abagail," the man said, his hold on Jane still firm. "She was a friend."

"Then maybe after you let my consultant go we can have a chat to catch her killer. But first, you have to let him go," Lisbon said, trying to reason. Her finger tightened around her trigger, releasing the safety, ready to shoot at any time. Jane had stilled and the alarms in her head rang loud and incessant.

"You idiot, I'm the one who killed Abby, just like I'm going to kill this man right here," the man said in a cocky voice.

Jane had gone limp in the man's hold and Lisbon prayed he was still alive. She gritted her teeth and shot at the man in his arm that was exposed to her, barely missing Jane. The shock and pain from the wound made him release Jane, who crumpled to the ground. Grunting, the man made a dash at her and received another shot to his shoulder. Lisbon tackled him and used leverage to roll him onto his front. She grabbed both his hands and handcuffed them behind his back. The man was still struggling beneath her, so she knocked him out with a punch.

Satisfied that he wouldn't move, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and called Cho who answered on the second ring. "Cho, I need you to send two ambulances to the address you gave me just now. Quickly, please. Thanks," Lisbon said, her voice alternating between calm and panicky as she went to Jane's side.

"Will do, Boss. I'm on my way," Cho said in his normal stoic voice and hung up.

Lisbon pocketed her phone and turned Jane, making him lie back on the floor properly. Kneeling low, she positioned her ear above his nose to listen for any signs of breathing, only to hear silence. She placed two fingers at his neck and search for his pulse, dread creeping up her back when she found none. Grabbing his left wrist, she tried finding a pulse again to make sure she didn't accidentally miss it, but there was none.

"No, no, no," Lisbon repeated frantically, trying to unbutton the many buttons on his jacket, vest and shirt. "Dammit Jane, why do you have to wear so many layers?!" Lisbon grunted in frustration at the stubborn buttons. Grabbing the jacket, she ripped the two pieces apart and did the same thing to his vest. She tore open the upper part of his shirt and placed her ear on his heart.

It was silent.

Horror running through her veins, her training kicked in. Placing her hands on his chest, she started pumping. "One, two, three," Lisbon counted, desperation in her voice. Thirty counts, she reminded herself mentally. At the thirtieth count, she tilted his head back, pinched his nose and gave him mouth to mouth. She watched his chest rise and fall twice as she gave him two breaths. Still seeing no movements, she continued the cycle. Thirty pumps, two breaths. Thirty pumps, two breaths. A sheen of sweat had worked its way onto her forehead but Jane just laid there, motionless.

"Dammit Jane, don't die on me!" Lisbon cried, tears streaming down her eyes. Her arms were getting tired from the exertion but she kept on going. He wasn't dead. Jane wasn't dead. He wouldn't die.

"Twenty nine, thirty," Lisbon counted, taking a second to wipe her face before pinching Jane's nose and placing her lips over his, giving him one breath of her own. She bent upwards to take in another breath to give him when he suddenly gasped a breath of air. Immediately, she let go of his nose and gave him some space to breathe.

Jane alternated between coughing and taking huge gulps of air. Lisbon made him sit up to help him breathe better and felt relief flood through her. Jane was breathing. He was alive.

Jane cracked his eyes open and looked at Lisbon through the blond locks that hooded his eyes. "What happened?" Jane rasped out, his voice raggedy. His hands were at his throat, massaging it.

"Abagail's killer almost took you too," Lisbon summarized, nodding her head at the man who was still out cold.

"He attacked me from behind," Jane rasped, frowning as he tried to remember the events that almost led him to his death.

"In the first place, you shouldn't have wandered off on your own! What were you thinking, jackass?!" Lisbon cried, smacking his arm. Her eyes were still watery but the tears had stopped. "For a moment, I lost you there... you weren't breathing and your heart wasn't beating..."

Jane stared at his the small brunette opposite him and something flickered in his eyes. "I'm sorry I made you so worried," Jane said. He caressed her cheek softly, wiping the tear stains away. Tucking a stray lock behind her ear, he pulled her close to his chest, letting her hear the rhythmic beating of his heart. "I'm here," he said softly, placing a light kiss on the top of her head.

"Jane, I can't do this anymore. This thing that we do, I can't do it anymore," Lisbon said, sitting upright after being satisfied his heart was working well once again. She looked straight into his green eyes and continued, "you almost died tonight and I can't bear the thought of losing you without you knowing..."

Jane's mouth tilted into a small wry smile as he listened to her. "Lisbon, I know," Jane interrupted her.

Lisbon stopped and stared him, eyes wide. "You know?"

"I know, Cho knows, heck, even Rigsby and Van Pelt knows. You're the only one who didn't," Jane said, laughing slightly as he shook his head.

"That doesn't even make sense," Lisbon frowned.

"You've been in a dilemma as to whether you love me like a brother or as something more, haven't you?"

"How did you...?"

"Like I said, Lisbon, you're easy to read," Jane said, shrugging. When Lisbon opened her mouth to deny it, he placed a finger over her lips to shush her. "I can't do this anymore, either," Jane continued.

Fear flickered through Lisbon's eyes. She had been dreading this moment, where he told her he was still in love with his wife. Steeling herself, she let him continue without interrupting him.

"Lisbon, I love you. For the past nine years, I've been falling in love with you. You've helped me piece my life together again," Jane said, smiling as he touched her face. "I haven't said it because I was afraid that admitting it meant you'd be a target to Red John what with all the recent events and his heightened rate of killings, but now I realize that even if I don't admit it, you're still a target to him and I don't want to die without you knowing how in love I am with you."

"God, how stupid are you?" Lisbon groaned. She took his hand that was touching her and kissed his palm. "I know you know, but I love you. Not like a brother. Not like family. I. _Love_. You."

"I know," Jane smiled, his other hand going behind her head and pulled her in towards his lips. "And thank you for giving me the kiss of life," he breathed just before he closed the gap between the two of them.

It was a short kiss, interrupted when they heard the wail of sirens in the distance. "Cho's here," Lisbon smiled, pulling away. Standing, she helped him up to his feet and checked on the still unconscious man on the floor.

"Lisbon?" Cho shouted over the sounds of cars pulling up and doors slamming.

"We're over here. Round the back," Lisbon shouted in reply, holding Jane steady. The lack of oxygen in his brain was making him unbalanced on his feet.

"You okay?" Cho asked as he came into view, taking into account the three people at the scene.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Jane needs a paramedic though," Lisbon replied.

"No, I'm fine," Jane said, trying to wave it off.

"No, you are not. You're getting yourself checked out," Lisbon said sternly.

"Meh, fine."

"Who's this?" Cho asked, approaching the man on the ground.

"He confessed he was Abagail's killer, but we have to confirm that first. He was strangling Jane, so I shot his arm to make him let go. Had to shoot him a second time before he went down," Lisbon relayed.

Cho nodded as he took the handcuffs off the man. The paramedics came rushing with two gurneys. Cho nodded at them and they went to work, carrying the man onto a gurney and carting him off. The other half of the paramedics team rushed towards Jane and Lisbon. Assuring them she was fine, she urged them to have a look at Jane, ignoring his protests in his raspy voice that he was fine. Lisbon shooting a look at him, Jane finally settled down and sat on the gurney, allowing them to confirm that he was fine.

"Your throat is heavily bruised, Mister Jane. You should go to the hospital to have it checked by a doctor. We can bring you there right now if you'd like," the team head said after checking that his blood pressure and heartbeat was normal.

"No, it's fine. I'll go there myself later," Jane said, shaking his head in refusal.

"Are you sure? Because that really needs to be checked out," the team head said, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes, I'll take him there myself," Lisbon said before Jane could say anything to the man. "Thank you."

"Alright, Agent Lisbon. He's under your care," the team head nodded and went back to his ambulance.

"Thanks," Jane smiled.

"Oh no, I'm really bringing you to the hospital. Come on," Lisbon said, walking towards her car with Cho, Jane following behind with a crestfallen face.

Cho stared at Lisbon mutely for a moment before asking again, "you okay?"

There was no emotion on his face nor his voice, but Lisbon knew he was still worried about her. "I'm fine, Cho. We almost lost Jane for a minute there, but I'm fine," Lisbon said reassuringly.

Cho cracked a small smile on his face and nodded at the two of them. "I'll go back to base first. See you two in the morning."

"Alright," Lisbon said, nodding as she sat in the driver seat of her car.

Jane gave a small laugh as he closed the door on his side of the car. Frowning at him, Lisbon asked him what was so funny. "He knows," Jane said simply.

"What?"

"He knows you know I know."

"What? How?"

"Lisbon, my dear, you're as transparent as glass."

"No I'm not!"

"You can try denying it, but the truth is still there," Jane said, laughing. "Besides, that's one thing I love about you," Jane continued. Looking at her, he stole a quick kiss and belted himself up.

"Jane!" Lisbon half-shrieked, her face turning crimson.

"You heard what Cho said," Jane smirked.

"That's not what he meant," Lisbon said defensively.

"Yeah, woman, keep telling yourself that," Jane laughed.

Shaking her head, Lisbon belted herself up and started the drive towards the hospital, making a silent prayer, grateful that Jane was breathing again.

**END**

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A/N: I don't know why this came to mind, but it did. I really do apologize about all the "I know you know" "you know I know" stuff. I was watching that episode and I just couldn't help but to put it in! And yes! I wrote an _actual_ Jisbon fic! Yay me! I hope you enjoyed reading it! Reviews are much appreciated. Thanks for reading!


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